JORGE RODRIGUEZ - Snapshot Autobiography Project (Final Draft - Google Slid - 3529788

The Story of
Jorge Rodriguez

Jorge Rodriguez Period 4
Mrs. Anderson

The day I found out about my Brother ...

When my little brother was born, I was six years old. I was still young and didn’t
understand many things. About 2-3 years later, we went to Shakey’s to celebrate
my Grandma’s birthday. We all had lots of fun and ate really good pizza. Once it
was time to leave, i went to feed my tickets that i have won into the machine and
all of a sudden I hear my family crying for help. My brother was having a seizure. I

didn’t know what was wrong with my brother because i was too young to
understand. The seizure lasted a little less than a minute. As I was sitting there
crying, the ambulance arrived and took my Brother and Mother to the hospital. I
have always loved and cared for my brother so when i saw him going through that
it really hit home. Over the years, he has been taking medicine to prevent him
from having seizures, but he still has them from time to time. When he was around

the age of 4, we found out that he had Autism.

The day i found out about my Brother…

It’s the year 2020. My brother hasn't had a seizure in over 2 years and I am very
grateful for that. Julian is my brothers name. Julian was non-verbal for the first 5
years of his life, and he can now speak in full sentences and express his feelings
to my parents and I. My brother is a huge part of my life and has helped me shape

who I am today.



My Baseball Debut

It was the summer of 2013. I was 7 years old and we had just moved to Carson
from Gardena. My dad is a big sports fan. So one day, he took me to sign up for
baseball at Scott Park. I had just turned 7 and I was able to sign up for the 7-9
year old team. I was the youngest, smallest, and weakest out of the whole team.
The season was going really well, since I was playing with older kids they were
able to teach me some things. I played left field and had a heck of an arm! At 7
years old I was already able to throw from 1st base to 3rd base. We went to the
city playoffs undefeated! The score was 5-4 and we were up by 1 point. BOOM! A
pop fly to left field. I chased after the ball and stuck my glove out. I caught it. There
was a runner on 2nd base going to 3rd base after the catch. I quickly reacted and

threw the ball all the way to 3rd base.

My Baseball Debut

“ Your out!” I had just made a double play and won us the game by one point! On
to the 2nd playoff game. Lets just say the 2nd game didn’t go as planned. We got
destroyed. The score was 9-2, eliminating us from the playoffs. That experience

was so fun and reflecting to me because even tho i was small and new to the
game of baseball, I stay played a big part to the team.



Grandma’s Battle

My grandma is the most loving, caring, joyful, playful women I know. She has
always looked after me through the years and helped feed me and keep a roof
over my head. One day I had noticed that my grandma looked a bit pale and
everyone had the look of worry on their faces. I knew something was wrong but I
couldn’t tell what. The house looked very depressing and the energy from my
family was not the same for about a week. Then my dad comes to me and says
“ Your grandma is very sick”. She had cancer in her left breast and it was already
spreading. As a kid, I didn’t know how to feel. I was very confused and emotional

even tho I didn’t know what it was. My grandma made the brave decision to
remove her left breast.

Grandma’s Battle

After her surgery she was still the same loving, caring, joyful, and playful
women she always was. This helped me shape who I am today because even

tho challenges and curveballs come unexpectedly, there is always a way to
overcome those obstacles. I also ran the 2011 Breast Cancer Awareness

Marathon at the age of 5 for my grandma.



My Dad’s Basketball Season

In the year 2013 my dad organized a basketball team for him and his friends to
play in a league at a gym in Montebello. I would always go to his games and

support him and his team. Their team were doing so good and had made it to the
playoffs. I would help my dad organize the team jerseys. Their team was called
The Black Mambas. They dominated the playoffs and had made it to their last
playoff game. If they won they would get to play in the championship game. It was
a pretty close and rough game since the opposing team weren’t being so friendly
but they figured something out and won the game by an inch. Picture this. It’s the
day of the championship game, the opposing team is all there and warming-up but

your team is running late.

My Dad’s Basketball Team

The game is going to start in about 10 minutes and only 2 people from the team
are there. They need at least 5 people present to start the game, if not the

opposing team automatically wins by forfeit. A few minutes later they arrived. They
were not warmed up but were ready to start the game. They started off pretty slow
and were already down about 10 points after the first quarter. By the second half
they were down about twice the amount of the first quarter. They strategized and
came back stronger in the 3rd and 4th quarter. They cut their down to 5 points with

3 minutes left in the 4th quarter. Buckets after buckets after buckets. They were
still down 2 points with less than 1 minute left. My dad goes for a layup and draws
a foul. He goes to the line to shoot and makes it! The opposing team tries to rush

and score but then the timer buzzes. The Black Mambas win!



About the Author

Jorge Rodriguez was born on December 22nd, 2006 in Saint Francis
Hospital. He has lived and grew up in Los Angeles, California all of his

life. Growing up in South Central, he has faced many challenges
throughout his family and has overcome them. He has always had a
strong and kind heart and loves to see people smile. He currently lives
in Carson, California in a nice home with his beautiful famliy of 4. He
owns 3 pets, 2 dogs and recently got a lizard in October. His story will
continue to grow and he will face many more obstacles in his life but he

is ready for them.